“Carson hasn’t abandoned music completely; all the musicality of nuanced emotion can be found in the distilled beauty of her delicate prose. The music world may be losing a voice of quietly impassioned grace, but the literary world has easily and fortunately gained one.” — PopMatters

“A lyrical story of love, longing, and acceptance. Beautifully imaged and authentically told, the result is a deeply meaningful exploration of an often painful subject.” — Booklist

“A daring, thoughtful book -- delightfully unpretentious and full of love. THE ORIGINAL 1982 deftly explores the ways in which even what seem like the wrong choices can lead us in the right direction.” — Alethea Black, author of I Knew You'd Be Lovely

“THE ORIGINAL 1982 follows one woman’s what if? through a captivating double narrative that keeps the reader hooked. I fell hard for both options, and for the wise and determined narrator, Lisa, and I couldn’t stop reading until the tender, touching end.” — Jessica Anya Blau, author of The Wonder Bread Summer

“Carson writes about regret, desire, and most of all, love in its many forms with grace and sensitivity. This is a novel of deep sympathy and enormous heart, an impressive debut.” — Christine Sneed, author of the novel Little Known Facts

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